My 91 year old Grandmother has recently started having delusions that her neighbors are after her and are starting fires in the middle of the night on her roof. She is under doctors' care, who haven't been able to diagnose her yet (this is all still very new). She calls 911 and the fire dept at least 2x a week... I've tried to tell them not to come, but they come and they are angry! This has been going on for 5 months. They keep telling us to put her in a home WELL, IT'S NOT THEIR G'MA AND THEY ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS SO THEIR OPINION is based on them being "put out". She has nighttime care so she's not scared. She still pays her bills, baths, laundry, cleans house, emails me, etc. and does not want a "baby sitter" during the day, which I understand AND respect. But.... I don't know how to keep her from calling 911... Any advise is appreciated!
I know you feel you have to, on some level, defend Grandma. It’s hard to see someone you love acting like this. But also, Grandma cannot continue taking the emergency services away when someone might truly need them. What does the aide do when she calls? Is the aide trained to deal with her delusions? Maybe talk to Grandma when she’s having a good day and tell her to call a family member. You can’t take her phone away. My mom called 9-1-1 three times in a week. That’s when I knew something was wrong and I kept after the doctors until they got it together and she was diagnosed with dementia and placed in a home. I know this is very hard to accept. Part of you is saying something is wrong and part of you is saying no way, she’s my grandma. I hope it all works out for you and your grandma soon.
Huge Mom calling twice in a year for legitimate reasons is not a reason to institutionalize your hubby. If you are calling for something like help getting hubby off the floor and he does not need transporting then naturally you will be charged for that call as you probably will when he does need transporting depending on your insurance.
As a hospice nurse I had called them many times when a patient fell or got stuck on the toilet or even just to move them to a hospital bed in another part of the house. i even called the police once to see if they had a key to an apartment building because the patient was too sick to ring me in. They did not have a key but the fire dept across the street did and an officer got the key and let me in. He offered to come in with me to help. Many of our emergency services in this rural area have lots of volunteers who monitor their radios even if they are not called. It was therefor not unusual to find volunteers living close by to be already at the house long before the ambulance turned up. if i got a young crew who www arrogent and it did happen, Ijust put on my best Gma face and said in a strong British accent that would have done her majesty proud. "Young man I am old enough to be your grandma now just get on and do what you are told " For some reason EMTs seem to think they know more than RNs.
Huge Mom as far as getting hubby into care, I am sure you have thought of everything you can think of. Does he already have medicaid? Next time you can get him to an emergency room tell them you can no longer care for him. Now I know you are a big lady so be prepared to stand firm while young girls in seasonally themed scrubs yell and scream and tell you you can't do that. It will be likely to get quite nasty and you will be upset but stand your ground. If hubby actually has something that requires admission for at least three days he may be able to go for rehab and you can take it from there. Make sure he is actually admitted and not just kept under "observation" which is another trick they have up their sleeves. It won't be easy but it can be done without standing on a street corner holding a red flashlight and wearing a mini skirt.